


Bones, bets and boys

by Dalankar



Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-17 21:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1402657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dalankar/pseuds/Dalankar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonghyun breaks a few bones. Someone makes a confession and the boys make a few bets. This is SHINee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bones, bets and boys

Kibum stares at him in shock. It might be funny any other time, that expression on Kibum's face, eyes wide and mouth open, if things were not so serious.

"What?" Kibum asks, gripping a hand on the door frame. "What did you say?"

Jinki takes a step closer. "Jonghyun's car crashed. He's in hospital. He's in surgery right now but he's going to be okay."

Kibum stumbles backwards and Jinki reaches after him.

"He's going to be okay, Kibum," Jinki tells him again, fighting back his own shock and fear because right now Kibum needs him to be strong.

"How-how did he- oh no-" Kibum's back hits the wall and Jinki corners him there. He cradles Kibum's face in his hands.

"Hey, Kibum." Kibum's wide eyes fix on him. "He's going to be fine."

"How do you know? How?"

Jinki smiles and kisses Kibum on the forehead. "I know. Trust me. Have I ever lied to you?"

After a long moment, Kibum shakes his head.

"I'm going to the hospital right now. Do you want to come?"

Kibum nods. "Does he- does he need anything?"

Jinki shakes his head. "Just you." Jinki knows how much Kibum means to Jonghyun, knows without the slightest feeling of jealousy that Jonghyun would choose Kibum over them all. Jinki knows because Jonghyun had told him, one late night when only the two of them had been awake in the dorms.

_I think I'm in love with him, hyung_ , Jonghyun had said, sounding slightly startled himself. Jinki had smiled and had not said of course you do, everyone else knows already.

Kibum ends up grabbing Jonghyun's favourite stuffed toy, a puppy with a long snout that they had given him for his last birthday. He holds onto it tightly in the car, a hand sometimes darting up to fix his hair or pick at one of the many studs in his ear. After a while Jinki reaches over and holds Kibum's hand between both of his'.

When they reach the hospital, they follow after their manager through the white corridors. It is so late in the night that apart from the occasional nurse, they don't run into anyone. A doctor meets them when they reach the ward. He tells them that Jonghyun had a broken nose and two broken ribs and things could have been much, much worse.

"He's a very lucky young man," the doctor says, nodding seriously. Key laughs. The doctor looks at him questioningly and Jinki smiles reassuringly and doesn't explain that Kibum laughs when he's nervous, when he's scared or worried. But that knowledge is sacred and only for the members to know and Jinki would never betray that trust.

They are told to let Jonghyun rest and not tax him in any way. Kibum hugs the toy to his chest as they enter the room. Jonghyun is asleep on the bed. His left hand is attached to a drip hanging over him and there is tape on the bridge of his nose. Kibum makes a noise suspiciously like a tearful sniff and rushes to Jonghyun's side. He stares down at Jonghyun intensely for a long moment, and Jinki, who is reassured by the steady rise and fall of Jonghyun's chest that he is indeed alive, sees the shine in Kibum's eyes as he carefully sets the toy dog down beside Jonghyun's head.

"How can he sleep like this after making us worry so much?" Kibum asks, voice loud in the empty night. "Ahh, this hyung! Seriously!"

For all his mockery, Kibum's face is tender as he wraps a hand over Jonghyun's right hand, fingers slipping easily between Jonghyun's still fingers.

It doesn't surprise him that Kibum doesn't want to leave.

"We can't leave him! You know he hates being on his own, hyung! What if he wakes up and we're not here?"

Jinki looks helplessly at their manager, who had come back into the room to take them home.

"The doctor said he's heavily sedated right now, Kibum. He's not going to wake up until the morning. So let's go home and I'll bring you back in the morning."

Kibum looks uncertain and he looks down at Jonghyun, sleeping so peacefully on the hospital bed.

"You can bring him his IPad so he can play with it when he wakes up, you know he'll be really bored otherwise," Jinki tells him. "You can spend the whole day with him since we don't have any schedules tomorrow."

Finally, Kibum nods. "Okay. But we have to come early in case he wakes up, okay hyung!"

Jinki smiles in agreement and holds out a hand. He doesn't hear what Kibum whispers in Jonghyun's ear when he leans down but he doesn't miss the kiss he leaves on Jonghyun's cheek, and the reluctance with which he moves away from Jonghyun towards Jinki.

-

The kids are home when they get back and jump at them with worried, insistent questions. Jinki tells them what he knows and the kids finally settle down when Jinki finally convinces them that Jonghyun will be fine.

"But what about 'why so serious', hyung? We're supposed to start practising next week, how can-?" Minho, ever so practical, doesn't get to finish because Kibum snaps at him from the kitchen.

"Yah! How can you care about practise right now when Jonghyun hasn't even woken up yet! You're so heartless!"

"I didn't say I didn't care about Jonghyun hyung, okay! I only wanted-"

"So fucking selfish!" Kibum insists loudly. When Minho takes an angry step forward, Jinki puts up a hand.

"Stop it. This is not helping. Let's just worry about Jonghyun right now and think about everything else later, okay. Everyone just go to bed now, please."

He watches as Kibum walks into Jonghyun's room and Taemin follow Minho to his'. Jinki sighs and heads for his own room. Minho did have a point there. This is the brink of their comeback, the accident means that the date would now have to be pushed back. And if Jonghyun's ribs don't heal in time, how would he practise for the MV? His head is filled with a hundred worries as he gets into bed. He looks up at the ceiling and takes a deep breath. He doesn't think he'll ever be able to explain to anyone how relieved he is that Jonghyun wasn't badly hurt, how scared he'd been when he'd first gotten the call. Even now, there is a constant undercurrent of fear running through his mind. What if there are complications with the injury? He'd heard that broken ribs can be problematic while healing. What if Jonghyun decides that Shinee isn't good for him anymore and wants to leave?

"Hyung?"

Jinki is so startled that he snaps up in bed and sees Taemin silhouetted by the door.

"What is it, Taeminnie?"

"Hyung, Jonghyun hyung- he will be home soon, won't he?" Taemin asks, his voice small in the near darkness of the room. Jinki is glad that that Taemin can't see the surprise on his face. Sometimes he forgets that no matter how hard he tries not to be, Taemin is very, very young. Even if he's been in the Idol industry for a longer time than he's been out of it, Jinki knows Taemin has never been through anything like this first hand. Jinki doesn't think hearing stories from Eunhyuk hyung counts.

"Of course he is, Taemin. It's only a few broken bones. They'll heal in no time and Jonghyun will be back pestering you to go to vocal training before you miss him."

He sees the tense lines of Taemin's silhouette ease. "That's good, hyung."

Jinki smiles. "Do you want to sleep here tonight, Taemin?"

Taemin nods. "Can I, hyung?"

"Of course, Taeminnie." Jinki shifts to make space on the bed.

"Minho hyung is going to talk too much if I stay with him and then I'll get no sleep at all," Taemin tells him, slipping easily under the covers.

"He just has to cool down, that's all," Jinki says as Taemin tucks his head under Jinki's chin. Jinki wraps an arm around his youngest as Taemin's hair tickles his neck.

"Did Kibum hyung confess?" Taemin asks suddenly and Jinki almost chokes on his tongue.

"Um…"

"He has to do it now, right hyung? I mean with this accident and all, things could have been worse, really worse and Kibum hyung would have regretted it for the rest of his life!" Taemin claims excitedly, coming back to his imaginative self now that he's been assured that Jonghyun will be fine. "What do you think, hyung?"

"I…"

"I know Jonghyun hyung told you. I thought he was going to confess. But he hasn't so I think it should happen now, right hyung?" Taemin persists.

Jinki yawns. These young kids have far too much energy and need far less sleep than Jinki does.

"I think they'll sort it out in their own time, Taemin-ah." Jinki ruffles Taemin's hair with a hand. "Go to sleep."

Taemin sighs happily, warm breath flowing over Jinki's skin. "Okay. Goodnight, hyung."

Jinki smiles and closes his eyes. "Night, Taeminnie."

Jinki is just about to drift off when -"Who do you want to bet will confess first, hyung?"

-

As it happens, Jinki's worse nightmares don't come true. But Jonghyun does miss out on all of the 'why so serious' promotions, including the MV. They try to make up for it by crowding the set with toys of dogs and dinosaurs. It doesn't really fill the void, doesn't really help them much. He feels Jonghyun's absence like a lost limb and he knows the others feel it too. Especially Kibum, who starts a few conversations with Jonghyun only to realise that he is not there. And the way Kibum would just shut down drives home the realisation that they have never made an MV without Jonghyun before. Never had a member missing like this. Jinki doesn't like it. He never wants to do it again.

But he knows it is only temporary and they visit Jonghyun at the hospital every chance they get, and for Jinki and Kibum, that tends to be every day. And when Jonghyun finally comes home with strict instructions from the doctor to not do any physically demanding work, lest his ribs move out of place again, everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Jinki doesn't fail to notice that Kibum doesn't stop sleeping in Jonghyun's room and Taemin makes wriggly eyebrows at him over the dinner table.

"So, Jonghyun hyung-" Taemin starts, voice decidedly hinting at something that probably should not be discussed over the dinner table.

"-have more potatoes!" Jinki hurriedly finishes for him, shaking his head at Taemin, while Kibum piles Jonghyun’s bowl with potatoes. Taemin stifles a laugh and Jinki realises that this might not be a battle he can win.

"You know Jonghyun hyung," Minho starts, and Jinki breathes easier, taking a moment to relish the delicious taste of chicken. "I think a good thing waits at the end of a bad thing. Do you think that's true?"

Then Jinki realises that of course Taemin would have roped Minho in. Of course Minho would do whatever Taemin asks him.

"I think the fact that he's alive is the good thing, Minho-yah," Jinki says, widening his eyes at Minho to cease and desist this line of questioning.

Jonghyun smiles at Jinki. "It's good to be alive. This is something I can use for my songs. And-" Jonghyun looks at Kibum, who is watching Jonghyun with soft eyes. "-It makes you realise what is important in life, what you can't bear to lose."

"So, hyung-" Taemin tries.

"-Does this mean you'll be writing songs for our next album?" Jinki cuts in. Jonghyun looks curiously at Taemin, then at Jinki.

"I will, hyung. I've started already."

Jinki nods approvingly as Taemin grins at him over a piece of kimchi.

"Jonghyun hyung-"

"Look! There's a fly!" Jinki yells, pointing desperately in an upward direction. Everyone startles, Kibum drops his spoon with a clang and proceeds to glare at Jinki.

"Hyung, what's wrong with you?"

Jinki sighs. "I give up. Just do it, Taemin."

Taemin blinks innocently at him. "Do what, hyung?"

Jinki waves a hand vaguely in the JongKey direction. "Ask them who confessed first."

Jonghyun grins at him and then Taemin starts laughing.

"Why so curious, hyung?" Jonghyun asks.

Jinki looks around at his members. "Wait, wait, wait! I'm not asking! I didn't start this! Wait! Why do these things always happen to me?" He asks the great unknown.

Kibum shakes his head at him. "Because you're too nice."

Jinki drops his head.

"You're too easy sometimes, Jinki hyung," Taemin says, piling more chicken into Jinki's bowl. Jinki cheers up measurably at the sight of his favourite food.

"By the way Jinki hyung," Kibum starts and Jinki looks up to see Kibum smile at him. "It was me." Kibum leans over and kisses Jonghyun on the cheek. "I confessed first."

"Why, Kibum hyung, why?" Taemin yells.

Kibum frowns. "What?"

Minho laughs. "Pay up, Tae-man."

"I told you he would, why would you not listen to me?" Jonghyun asks Taemin with a laugh.

"You said what?" Kibum asks dangerously. Jonghyun shares a panic stricken look with Jinki before jumping out of his chair and running off.

Kibum yells after him. "Yah! This is not finished! And you're not supposed to run yet! Pabo!"

Jinki and Taemin stare as Kibum chases after Jonghyun. Minho keeps eating.

"I really thought Jonghyun would confess first," Jinki says sadly, feeling around his pockets for his wallet.

Minho grins. "Pay up, hyung."

*


End file.
